The Brave Fall First
by WickedSong
Summary: The curse is broken, the clouds have cleared and while a bigger battle looms on the horizon, now is the time to rebuild and repair. In this time, Emma finds herself reflecting on the first tragedy of the curse. Oneshot. Gremma.


**The Brave Fall First,**

**Written by WickedSong.**

**Disclaimer/Note : ****Because I have far too many Graham/Emma/Gremma feels to handle. Takes place after the curse is broken and magic has returned but I don't go into too much detail because hell, we don't exactly know what it all means do we? I don't own OUAT or the characters because if I did, I would use the collective minds of the entire Gremma shipdom to find a logical way to bring him back and that's about the only thing I would do to this otherwise flaw free show and the writers could keep doing what they are doing.**

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There were plenty of places she had to be. As the 'saviour' of the fairytale land that once was, she was hailed a hero, but she hadn't had any time to process anything that had occurred from the moment she had revived Henry, and magic had returned to Storybrooke, in a simultaneous and unbelievable chain of events. In that time she had been reunited with the parents she had thought abandoned her, Snow White and Prince Charming, in a shocking reunion that had left her more hungry for answers than she had been in a long time. Sure, part of her felt at peace, but the other part was still actively trying to somehow give these events some sort of logic. In all honesty she was still trying to wake up from what she was sure was a dream, a long and winding, at some points happy, some points sad, dream but she hadn't yet. And it had been almost a week.

Regina had fled with the purple smoke that had overrun the town, seemingly harmless, and the dazed inhabititats of Storybrooke went on the search for their happy endings which had been ripped away from them by the curse. It had been broken, memories and magic had been restored, but with the lack of information on Regina's whereabouts, which was the first thing Mary Mar-Snow White and Dav-Charming (not Mom and Dad, to her, it was too surreal to even think about applying those names to them), set out to find, she feared that an even bigger storm was about to begin.

For now, though, there was peace, even with half the town lying in ruins and devestation, as the damage was beginning to be repaired by the array of fairytale characters, including Rub-Red, Arch-Jiminy and Aug-Pinnocchio, who had seemed to be spared by the reversal of the curse.

Henry had made an astounding recovery, from being on his deathbed to being cured and awoken by the the love between parent and child, mother and son, another thing that Emma was still trying to wrap her head around. And it was Henry who had indirectly led her to where she stood on that bright summer's day, out in the cemetery.

He had been reading his fairytale book over at Granny's to some of the townspeople who had asked him to, those who still had some blank slates in their mind to fill. Emma walked in, to the smiles of the patrons, something she would never be used to, and took a seat near her son as he told the story.

"Enraged at his deceit, the Queen slammed the heart of the stag on the altar at the centre of the room, turning then to directly face The Huntsman. Without hesitance or regret, she took what she believed rightfully hers, a human heart; his heart and warned that if he left her, betrayed her or showed any human compassion for anyone ever again she would crush it, giving a tight squeeze causing him to cry out in pain, proving her point. She..."

It was at this point that she tuned out of the story, taking the time to stand from where she had been listening intently to her son, to one of the stools nearer the counter where she couldn't hear, ordering cocoa from Granny, who smiled, nodded and assured her that it was on the house. As she drank it, she quietly observed Henry, as he closed the book, obviously finished regalling the crowd with the tragic story of The Huntsman.

Emma closed her eyes.

A memory came to her.

The sheriff's office. A cold winter's night. Graham's last night. He looked better than he had that entire day, obviously down to turning his back on Regina, a woman he hadn't been able to shake for however long he had been in Storybrooke (now Emma knew the sad truth of their entanglement). He had said he wanted to feel something and she had thought it was some sort of metaphorical emptiness he had to fill, and in the here and now she realised it was real. Whatever she felt beating inside his chest that day hadn't been his heart.

Regina had quickly seen to that.

The crowd around Henry dispersed and he perched on one of the stools beside her, Granny bringing him a glass of milk. He smiled at the older lady, and placed the book in his bag, turning to Emma, who looked down at her drink, with a half-hearted smile. "Mom, are you okay?"

Henry had taken to calling her that quickly and while it was a title Emma had never really thought she would want or even deserve, she nodded at him. "Everyone seems to love your stories, kiddo."

"Well they're not just stories," he corrected, and she nodded, answering at the same time as her son, "they're everyone's lives."

He looked impressed.

She stood up. "Come on, let's go and find Mary Mar-Snow and Dav-Charming." She had to keep mentally correcting herself.

Henry took a quick drink of his milk and nodded, jumping off of the stool and exiting the diner with Emma.

"Where are you going?" Henry asked once Emma had located Snow and Charming and asked if they could keep an eye on him for half an hour. They had smiled happily but had looked to their daughter in a way that said they were as confused as their grandson.

Emma turned to her son. "Just...I need to do something. Can I borrow the book?"

Henry nodded, and left the book in the car on the seat beside Emma's. He climbed out of the car and Emma sent her - as strange as it was, it was true - parents, a smile and - though they still had much to say to each other and to figure out - it could be figured out another day, the smile enough for now, to combat all the weirdness that came with their current situation.

By the grave that she had been looking for, Emma opened the book near the end.

"With hardly any time left to explain, The Huntsman only surmised that he was a friend, in reply to the Prince's demand, leading him to a passage that would give him a safe getaway from the Queen's clutches. Charming insisted that The Huntsman escape with him but the young man could not, explaining that the price he had paid for allowing Snow her freedom had been great; his own heart in exchange for hers. Urging the Prince to not allow this to be in vain, the two parted ways, the Prince noting the bravery of the man and hoping that there would be some way to free him, once the Queen's reign had been put to an end."

There was a further passage about the Queen's - Regina's - reaction when she discovered Charming was gone and again Emma was taken aback by the surreal nature of these being real, people she had passed in the street, stories she had dismissed for so long as fairytales, not true.

It's her first time at his grave since the funeral. She laid a bouquet of flowers on the concrete slab that presented his name, 'Graham Humbert' and that he was a 'beloved friend and sheriff who would be missed by all'.

It sickened Emma to look at it. For two reasons. All it did was remind her that he was dead. And that was easier to deal with when she had believed it had been natural causes as the autopsy had said when he had died. And it hurt now to know that the same woman who had given the speech at his funeral, paid for the coffin he was lowered into the ground in and who had been in charge of the arrangements was the same woman who had killed him.

He had been murdered, one of the first innocents, heck, the first, to fall in a battle she hadn't been aware she had to fight until only a week ago. Not only that but he had sacrificed himself for her mother, her father, for her. She hoped that he had found what he had been looking for - something to feel. She felt that stinging in her eyes, that often preceded crying but it was somewhat unfamiliar to her, so she stood, tucking the book under her arm, clearing her throat and gave a small smile. "Thank you," she said, trying to ignore the choked up feeling she had. "For everything."

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**I just feel like s2 has to have some sort of acknowledgement of Graham being one of the first tragedies of the curse. I'd just like to see Emma dealing with the realisation that he didn't die of 'natural causes' but that Regina murdered him, took away someone else from her, like she tried to with Henry and her parents, her life, etc.**

**Anyway, if you enjoyed please review, please, please!**

**WickedSong x**


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